Today was a slow day, with the excitement starting at 10 when we ventured to the digital imaging lab to get the pictures of the malignant schwannoma of the eye. We took snapshots of the images at 7.5 magnification, 0.7 magnification, and 40.0 magnification. There were about 10 different images of 3 different slides with 3 different stains. While we were taking the images, Mrs. Allen stopped by to see what we were doing. We explained to her, with the help of Dr. Malarkey, what each stain meant and what each tumor was.
Our next big event was after lunch when we got a tour of the basement of the NIEHS building. In this basement area was where all of the mice and rats were kept for the studies. Although we were not allowed to walk in the room with the animals since you need a full gown and mask, but we were able to look through the glass at them. There were huge rooms filled with mice and rats in individual containers stacked on shelves. Some mice were even held in rooms with red light, making it seem like nighttime during the day and day during the night. Around these rooms were rooms were the containers were being cleaned and dried for new studies. There were also surgical rooms for mice and rat operation, and other testing rooms for the mice reaction time and hearing and eyesight.
After our tour Anthony and I went upstairs to continue working our presentation for Thursday on the cellphone radiation study. I am excited for our presentation tomorrow!